Mail-order Head Denies Allegations Raised In Inquiry

Jacquelyn Sims of Marina Del Rey, Calif., paid $31.95 for Solarin-950, an ``overnight tanning pill`` that was supposed to brown her skin without long hours of basking in the sun.

``It turned my skin a strange color of orange, which was unattractive, and numerous people commented on (it) negatively,`` she wrote.

While reviewing seized records, Fort Lauderdale police say, they found thousands of letters from customers detailing ailments attributable to ``miracle cures`` sold by Robertson-Taylor Co., a Fort Lauderdale concern.

The letters, many written to the company in 1984 as customers sought refunds, were confiscated as part of a racketeering and fraud case against the company`s owner, Mitchell Friedlander, 36, police Detective Thomas Hepburn said.

Until the firm shut down in June and Friedlander`s arrest in July, he was one of the nation`s most prominent mail-order sellers of items such as baldness cures, breast enlargers and weight-reduction pills.

He is now out on $50,000 bail while awaiting the trial that is scheduled for early next year in Broward Circuit Court.

Friedlander maintains that there are far fewer cases of adverse reactions than police say and points out that he gave prompt refunds to those who wrote to complain about the products.

He does not deny that some people experienced the adverse reactions, but said that is because they are allergic to otherwise harmless products.

The letters, however, tell a different story.

They describe how customers suffered headaches, rashes, cramps, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, high blood pressure and other maladies after using Friedlander`s products.

Hepburn and Martin Katz, a compliance officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, say they have not heard of any cases in which customers got seriously ill from the products.

What Friedlander would do is find a scientific study - no matter how discredited or tentative - that indicated a possible value in using a non- prescription drug, federal officials said. He would then place advertisements announcing a ``scientific breakthrough.``

The court records contain some warnings by medical experts about the products being sold by Friedlander.